Founded in 2002, the Society encourages the creation of watercolor at all skill levels and promotes interest, appreciation and enjoyment of watercolor and watermedia. Please feel free to attend one of our meetings. Monthly meetings are held on the first Wednesday of every month, at 10 a.m. at the Cincinnati Art Club, 1021 Parkside Place, Cincinnati, Ohio, unless otherwise noted.

Monday, April 25, 2016

Program
Chair, Claudia Taylor, introduced our presenter for April, Craig Lloyd. Craig received his degree from WrightState, and Masters from U.C. He is an Associate Professor at Mt.St. Joseph and was the Judge for our 2015 GCWS
Art Show. His topic was “A History of
Watercolor”. We saw many wonderful
slides of paintings which were representations of the subjects and elements of
design that were discussed.

The first element discussed was “Unity” – that
is, repetition with variety, sometimes shapes, or color, or values. Other elements of design include balance,
proportion, and a focal point.

The history
of watercolor begins about 16,000 B.C. by the “cave men” who drew on walls with
charcoal, or perhaps even put paint pigments inside hollow bones, and blew air
through them to make representations of their everyday life. Some were found in France.
The Egyptians were able to create “paper” – papyrus, by pounding stems
of plants, and used a type of watercolor about 275 B.C. Chinese silk painting – watercolor or ink on
silk came into being about 1100-1200 A.D.
Next, the Europeans used egg tempera on vellum (sheepskin). The Limbourgh Brothers created magnificent
manuscripts in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Chinese
paper was used extensively as a trade medium, shipped throughout the known
world in trade for other goods. Paper as
we know it was developed from about 220-500 A.D. At first, Sicily was the center of papermaking; then
it was made in Italy, France, and Germany.
Woven paper was refined in the 1760’s, and when the paper-making machine
was invented in 1807, it was so improved and much more abundant, that many
artists could now afford to buy the paper and really begin to paint. Most started as apprentices and worked with
the great artists.

Albrecht
Durer was the first real watercolorist, using roundness, shading, and
color. He used watercolor and gouache,
which was called “body color”. Until
about 1781, most artists had to make their own paint, but Reeves was the first
to use honey as a preservative to keep the pigment moist. In 1846, artists were finally able to
purchase tubes of paint – gum Arabic and pigment and water, by Windsor & Newton.
This opened the field to another whole round of artists.

In Britain, the Royal Watercolor Society still
used the art form of watercolor and gouche.
In 1841-1842, a wonderful watercolor painter, JMW Turner came upon the
scene. He painted landscapes, scenes,
many with large skies, and architecture.

In America, the artists were chronicling America – the birds, plants, etc. John J. Audubon , who was born in Haiti, but eventually lived in Kentucky, worked on a Birds of America folio
book. He owned a dry goods store, made a
fortune, but went into bankruptcy.
Luckily, he went to Britain with his large 30” x 36” folio. It was published, and it was a great success.

Winslow
Homer painted in the 1900’s; painted the Color Light – Chicago. John Singer Sargent also painted in the
1900’s – 900 oils, and 2000 watercolor paintings. He lived in Europe, but also had U.S. citizenship; was also talented on
the piano.

Other
painters whose work we saw: Paul
Cezanne, an impressionist; Berthe Morisot (painted 1872-1882). She was known as a great drawer, and a fast
painter. Our TaftMuseum had a show of her paintings
recently. Paintings by Dixie Selden
(1930s), Emma Mendenhall (1960’s), and Ida Holterhuff Holloway (1930’s) were other slides that we enjoyed at this
presentation.

Elizabeth
Nourse, a Cincinnatian (Mt. Healthy – 1890’s) went to the CincinnatiArtAcademy; was a student of Frank Duveneck. Duveneck (1848-1919) lived in Covington, KY,
learned his craft from the Masters in Germany, and a number of his paintings
are displayed at the Basilica Cathedral in Covington and at the Cincinnati Art
Museum.

Members of
the Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society are following a long and very fine
tradition of the many great watercolor painters who came before us. Maybe, some day, some of our members will have
paintings hanging in museums.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

The new
President of the GCWS, Kathy Lang, called the April meeting to order.There were no guests today.If you are a watercolor artist (beginner or
seasoned) in the Greater Cincinnati area, you are cordially invited to come and
visit one of our meetings, and join the group if you are so inclined.

As our new
Treasurer, Carol Fencl was on a wonderful vacation, a short Treasury report was
given: the checking account has been
transferred, and we have enough in our Treasury to handle all of our current
needs. Any member that would like to
have more details is always welcome to talk to Carol.

Continuing
Secretary, Joyce Grothaus, reminded members that forms for making
Announcements; and copies of the Minutes are placed on the back table for those
who do not have access to the Blog.
Let’s tell the world about your accomplishments!

Judith Reed,
Chair of our Annual Art Show, gave her report.
All members were mailed the rules regarding the Show.

New, revised, copies of the Pre-Registration
form were handed out at the meeting. The
Exhibit will be at the “Barn” in Mariemont;
Hanging on June 1, Reception on June 5, and the Show will continue until
June 20. Each participating member is
asked to bring food to the Reception, if possible. Leadership Team members will provide liquid
refreshments.

Info about
the Show: Pre-Registration - before May
18. In order to pre-register,
you must get the information about your paintings – that is – Name of Painting,
Medium, Price you would like to put on it, your name, and contact info, to Deb Ward before May 18. The entry fee for pre-registration is
$10-one; $15 for two. You may get this to Deb by E-mail, Snail
Mail, in person at the May meeting, or Telephone. Do not send Deb any money; that is to be
brought to the June 1 Meeting/Registration/ Hanging Day, with your
paintings. If you do not Pre-register
your paintings, the cost is $20-one; $25
for two, and there will not be an identifying card for your painting, and yours
will not be on List of Artists/Paintings.
Let’s have a good showing!

New
Membership Chair Lydia Rittinger will be getting a new Membership Booklet
printed up soon. We want you to be in
it. Please send your dues to Lydia so that you can participate in all
the GCWS activities, and lessons.

Librarian
Joan Ammerman has been making our club DVDs very accessible to members at each
meeting. If you would like to borrow
one, please sign it out and next month sign it back in. There are some great lessons contained in
these DVDs!

Dot Burdin,
Scholarship Chair, has been coordinating all of the details necessary in order
for the GCWS to give out two Scholarships to deserving students. There will be two freshman students from the ArtAcademy at our May meeting who have been
chosen to receive these. One is directly
from GCWS, and one is from the Mary Marxen Fund. It is always very satisfying to be able to
give a bit of help to a striving artist, and hear about the work they are
doing.

Workshop
Chair, Dianna Duncan gave a report about the Workshop that GCWS will be
offering on October 28, 29, and 30 this year.
Guy Magallanes will teach, and we have been told he is both talented and
fun! Members will have first choice to
attend; there will be just 20 places.
Salad and bread will be served for lunch. Reservations will be available in July. Dianna will need help in order for this
project to be successful.

Diana Marra will have a Solo Exhibit at Evendale Cultural Arts Center, Opening Friday March 2 from 6-8. The Exhibit is called "A Taste of Asia" and will of course have Sake and Sushi in addition to the usual wine-and-cheese Opening fare. Exhibit is also open 12-4 on Sat. and Sunday March 3 & 4. Diana will offer a mini-workshop - "A Taste" - on Wed. March 14, 6:30-8, cost $20 / all materials provided in 3 versions of oriental-style painting. For more information contact Diana.